Team SheetThe <strong>Board</strong>Roger Knight – ChairmanNick Cousins – SEOPeter Mitchell – Midl<strong>and</strong>s (& Dep Chairman)Barry Tombs – London & EastTony Hemmings – South & WestPhilip Radcliffe – NorthDave Carter – <strong>Wales</strong>Nick Pink – ICC EuropeFraser Stewart – Laws & UniversitiesManager, MCCPaul Bedford – Head of non first-classcricketChris Kelly – ECB Umpires’ ManagerNeil Bainton – First Class UmpiresMike Charman – Chairman, ACCS(representing)Janie Frampton – Independent MemberThe ECB <strong>ACO</strong> ExecutiveNick Cousins – Senior Executive OfficerBen Francis – Finance & Project OfficerSaira Baker – Executive AdministratorEddie Lunn – Executive Officer (South)Glyn Pearson – Executive Officer (North)Martin Williams – Project Support Officer<strong>ACO</strong> <strong>Board</strong>Sub-CommitteesEducationMembership ServicesScorersPerformanceAppointments <strong>and</strong> Grading<strong>ACO</strong> Membership <strong>and</strong>Education FulfilmentPhone – 0121 446 2710E-mail – ecbaco@ecb.co.ukAddressesECB <strong>ACO</strong>Lord’s <strong>Cricket</strong> GroundLondon, NW8 8QZECB Membership <strong>and</strong>Education Office:Warwickshire CC Ground, Edgbaston,Birmingham, B5 7QXNewsletter EditorBen Franciseditor.aco@ecb.co.ukThe <strong>Cricket</strong> Umpires<strong>and</strong> Scorers TrustAvailable to ECB <strong>ACO</strong> membersEnquiries/requests should beaddressed to: The Chairman, The<strong>Cricket</strong> Umpires <strong>and</strong> Scorers Trust,c/o JF Rushton Accountant, TheSaturn Centre, Spring Road,Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, WV46JX or acustrust@yahoo.co.ukThe Trustees cannot guarantee tomeet every request, but all will begiven due consideration.E D I T O R I A LFrom cow corner to fine leg,officiating hits the newsI have been gently taken to task by one of ourmembers for promoting “inappropriate non –cricketing terminology” such as ‘Mankading’<strong>and</strong> ‘Dilscoop’ <strong>and</strong> using terms borrowed fromthe sport of Baseball (Switch Hit) which my correspondentdescribes as neither fitting nor suitablefor cricket! Those of you who have heardme speak will know my penchant for referringto the ‘Ipswich Syndrome’ – that is saying thatjust because one person says it does not make itright…<strong>and</strong> I suspect that the Ipswich Syndromemay be apposite here, not least because over theyears, cricket has given so many mystifying idiomsto the English language that a couple morenow simply add to the sequence. Take the followingsentence for example:“Panesar is bowling to the night watchmanwith a short-leg <strong>and</strong> a silly-point, no doubt witha view to tossing it up <strong>and</strong> hoping for a bat padcatch or a heave to the man stationed on thedeep midwicket boundary”To the non –cricketing members of the communitythis is pure gobbledegook –to the rest ofus, it makes perfect sense. Indeed whilst thosespecialist cricketing terms such as ‘googly’ or‘chinaman’ will always confuse an American,the fact is that it is the more common place vocabularyimbued with special cricket meaningthat particularly mystifies the uninitiated.It is said that in its heyday, Test Match Specialattracted a considerable following of peoplewithout the slightest knowledge of cricket. Ioften wonder whether the many references tothird man led to an increased readership of GrahamGreene or whether Geoffrey Boycott’s constantreferences to the corridor of uncertaintywere always about a bowler’s finding a particularlygood line <strong>and</strong> length or whether it wasthought to be more of a reference to HogwartsCastle.When Geoffrey Howe resigned from MargaretThatcher’s government, he did so using astring of cricketing metaphors. Describing leadingthe British negotiations on EMU in Europe,he stated: “It is rather like sending your openingbatsmen to the crease, only for them to find, asthe first balls are being bowled, that their batshave been broken before the game by the teamcaptain”. It was reported that the Hon Memberfor Preseli did not have a clue what he was talkingabout!I think it is inevitable that as the gameevolves so the language follows. Terms such asdeath rattle or pinch hitting have quite recentorigins whereas describing a batsman as doing abit of gardening or slogging to cow corner reflectcricket’s social history as a more rustic pastime.Whatever your view of this idiosyncraticcricketing language, new or old, it is worth reflectingthat all is well as long as the best-known<strong>and</strong> well used metaphor of all is still in commonusage – that is having something that is unjust orjust plain wrong described as being not cricket.This leads nicely to mention the quite enormouspost bag (another metaphor since nearlyall correspondence now comes by e mail…) onthe article in the last newsletter about the Kartik/ Barrow incident <strong>and</strong> whether this was notcricket or a perfectly legitimate dismissal? Ihope you will enjoy reading the selection of letterspublished -which incidentally were largelyin support of the latter view. I am hoping thatthis month’s view from Beyond the Boundaryon the entirely different topic of self-reflectionwill also get you thinking –<strong>and</strong> e mailing.If you were one of the 300 or so memberslucky enough to attend the National Conferencethan the review should bring back some goodmemories. For the majority reading this, who forwhatever reason were not able to attend, I hopeit will give you a flavour of what was a very rewarding<strong>and</strong> entertaining day.Officiating has been in the news recentlywith the extraordinary claims made againstMark Clattenburg following his h<strong>and</strong>ling of therecent Chelsea v Manchester United game. Itwas of course the issue of alleged racism thatmade headlines <strong>and</strong> following on from the unsavourybehaviour witnessed recently in Serbia<strong>and</strong> the now infamous John Terry affair it was asalutary reminder that this issue is still a live onein football, if not in other sports –or is it a liveissue in other sports <strong>and</strong> particularly is it a liveissue in recreational cricket –<strong>and</strong> if so what lessonsare there for umpires? Recreational cricketis unique in so far as it is the sport of choice forthe majority of British Asian or South Asianyoung people living <strong>and</strong> working in the UnitedKingdom <strong>and</strong> perhaps because of this ECB triesto embrace these issues in a positive way rathercontinued on page 3Saeed Rehman (left) <strong>and</strong> Saad Bhatti (right) during a tournament this summer in Birminghame-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 2 contact us on 0121 446 2710
e-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 3 contact us on 0121 446 2710Editors PicksBeyond the BoundaryNow that the close season is here, we will get our <strong>ACO</strong> annual grading in due coursewhich might cause us to grunt at the season’s marks from captains –that is if ourLeague is enlightened enough to let us see them! It might also cause us to lookback <strong>and</strong> decide whether or not we had a good season – or more importantly whatwe can do to improve, because believe me, we can all improve!PAGE 8-9: Awards <strong>and</strong> Recognitione-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 9 contact us on 0121 446 2710WINNERLorraine ElgarLo raine has been a club umpire <strong>and</strong> scorersince the 1970s. She umpires on the Kentpanel <strong>and</strong> ha served as local, county <strong>and</strong> regionalchair of the <strong>ACO</strong>, inspiring <strong>and</strong> enthusingmany to achieve their potential,helping o ficials to be recognised at a levels.She has umpired a the highest level in thewomen’s game <strong>and</strong> passes on her experiencewithout hesitation. She gives back to thegame at every opportunity, being heavily involvedin disability <strong>and</strong> Visua ly Impairedcricket, selflessly helping, advising <strong>and</strong>mentoring beyond the ca l of duty. She is themost successful female umpire in Kent <strong>and</strong>indeed perhaps the country, but is firs too fer to help when a game needs o ficials,continuing to o ficiate at al levels of thegame both indoor <strong>and</strong> out.Her dedication to training over the yearshas helped clubs in the Swale area recruitmuch needed o ficials, with on-going mentoring.There are few clubs in Swale thathave not benefi ted from Lo raine’s commitmento o ficiating.She has been rated as an exce lent umpireat a levels of the game, <strong>and</strong> her continuedintegrity <strong>and</strong> enthusiasm in a changing gamehelps her gain the respect of those who meether.“I wa so overwhelmed to win theNatWest OSCA for O ficiating; it wa suchan honour. The other two finalists for thisaward, Deborah Burns <strong>and</strong> Alan Englishwere just as deserving as me <strong>and</strong> I wouldlike to think that we were a l winners.“Most of us do not enter into o ficiating togain recognition <strong>and</strong> there are so few umpires<strong>and</strong> scorers that are recognized. Iwould like to share this award with a l ofyou who also give of your time, energy <strong>and</strong>ski ls as o ficials, commi tee members, mentors,tutors, assessors <strong>and</strong> representatives ofour Association who do not coun the hours,the travel <strong>and</strong> the e forts that you dedicate.“It was especia ly poignan to see two femalefinalists, together having given over 70years to o ficiating, advocating the enjoymentthat women can also get from a maledominatedgame.“The Latin word ‘volunteer’ origina ly refered to volunteers for the Roman army. Weneed to grow our own army of volunteers.There is a climate of respec towards whathas already been put in place, <strong>and</strong> there is adesire to make more room for the young.When I was 7 years old I started an interestin o ficiating that I never dreamed wouldlas this long. <strong>Cricket</strong> has enriched my life -wonderful friendships have formed, trust hasbeen built, <strong>and</strong> laughter shared. I would encourageyou all to convey your passion forcricke to the young in order to inspire themto become o ficials <strong>and</strong> share in our love forthe game.“I could not have contributed so much tocricket withou the support <strong>and</strong> encouragemento families <strong>and</strong> friends <strong>and</strong> I’m sure INatWest OSCAsThe NatWest OSCA for Services to O ficiating was awarded to Lo raine Elgar of Kent for her achievements <strong>and</strong> hard workboth on <strong>and</strong> o f the field. Alan English, Buckinghamshire, <strong>and</strong> Deborah Burns, Middlesex, were runners up. Congratulations toa l for continuing to represent umpires <strong>and</strong> scorers in the best possible light.gramme officia ly began,Chris has played a hugepart in its development,starting out as one of thefirst four young o ficials.Chris has helped tospread the word of ECB<strong>ACO</strong> <strong>and</strong> in particularthe young o ficials,which has generated greater interest in theprogramme. From 2009 to now, Chris’ developmenthas continued on an upward path, <strong>and</strong>he now officiates regularly in the West of<strong>Engl<strong>and</strong></strong> Premier League.But it is for his work with the young o ficials– especia ly this year – that Chris deservesthe award. He has regularly gonebeyond the call of duty, often making himselfavailable a the last minute to fi l an emptyplace - most notably at Oakham <strong>and</strong> Bedford -<strong>and</strong> this wi lingness makes him a valuableasse to ECB <strong>ACO</strong>.At Bedford he acted as the Liaison O ficerfor all of the young o ficials, organising wherethey would be umpiring during the week-longtournament. Chris also managed to speak toSimon Taufel <strong>and</strong> a ranged a special sessionfor the young o ficials at Lord’s, where theAustralian spoke for an hour to 15 of those inthe young o ficials squads.Wi liam Morrison – Behind the ScenesWi liam first started scoring for Wickford<strong>Cricket</strong> Club in 1961 <strong>and</strong> completed 50 yearsof continuous scoringin 2011. He scores onboth Saturday <strong>and</strong>Sunday for Wickford1st XI, <strong>and</strong> is consideredone of the bestscorers in the ShepherdNeame Essex League.In addition, he becamethe Club Treasurer in 1977 <strong>and</strong> has been inthat role ever since.He is an active member of the bar committee<strong>and</strong> makes a substantial contribution to theday to day running of the Club. Wi lie also attendsthe ECCB county indoor finals yearafter year, scoring for a l the sides participating;this is always on a voluntary basis.He is also on the ECCB Association of<strong>Cricket</strong> O ficials commi tee, <strong>and</strong> is the trainingo ficer for scorers throughou the county.He has recruited, trained <strong>and</strong> mentored manynew scorers, <strong>and</strong> is an integral part of thecommittee.Derek Shuttleworth – LifetimeAchieverDerek commenced umpiring in the BradfordLeague in 1964 when he gave up playing. Hecontinued to umpire in the League for 45years until his health prevented him fromst<strong>and</strong>ing for long periods. Derek stood in over1000 games in the Bradford <strong>Cricket</strong> League.A the age of 80 he became a club scorer inthe league <strong>and</strong> then mastered the TCS scoringsystem which a l scorersin the league haveto use. He is sti l an activescorer in season2012. Derek was responsiblefor se ting upthe West YorkshireBranch of ACU around1970, a branch ofwhich he was Chairman for many, manyyears.He has been an umpire tutor for about 40years <strong>and</strong> served ACU&S as Regional TrainingO ficer for the North East Region <strong>and</strong>Chairman of the ACU Training Commi tee.He is also a qualified Scorer Tutor. Derek wasChairman of the Bradford <strong>Cricket</strong> LeagueUmpires Association for over 20 years <strong>and</strong> isnow the Association’s President. A schoolteacherby profession, he put a l his educationski ls into delivering his courses. His methodof teaching was thorough <strong>and</strong> would alwayswork a the pace of the slowest c<strong>and</strong>idate. Hewould tutor anywhere in our large county <strong>and</strong>has also been known to go across to Lancashireto deliver both umpire <strong>and</strong> scorercourses. I cannot begin to guess the numberof c<strong>and</strong>idates he has tutored over the yearsbut I am certain that a very high percentagewi l have passed their exams <strong>and</strong> Derek’sknowledge <strong>and</strong> professionalism wi l havehelped these recruits put into practice on thefield what Derek has taugh them in theclassroom.e-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 13 contact us on 0121 446 2710I believe this is a fairly easy Law to“fix”. The non-striker should be a lowed toleave his ground to back up, with nopenalty to the ba ting side until either thebatsman has played the ball, or attempted toplay it. This is then similar to the actions ofthe wicketkeeper - where the ‘keeper cannotake the ba l in front of the stumps if thebatsman hasn’ touched the ball. The samerisks apply to the non-striker as now, so ifhe is out of his ground when the ball is deflectedonto the stumps o f a member of thefielding side, he is out run out. Alternatively,if the striker elects no to run - or ifhe does! - there i still the potential for arun out a the non-striker’s end.However this simple reworking of theLaw would reduce the workload of the nonstriker’sumpire; at present, the umpire ischecking for no-balls, is the non-striker inhis ground, was the bowler in his deliverystride, is the batsman out? Instead, the umpirecan check the no-ba l, then immediatelyturn to the business end, where theimportant mechanics ma ter!Peter Woodman, Devon, wrote:Having read the Beyond the Boundarypiece in Edition 14, I found the conclusionboth i logically <strong>and</strong> unreasonably bias infavour of the batsman. There is nothing“fair” or “within the Spirit” for a nonstrikerto gain an unfair (in practice, “unreasonable”)advantage by advancing (orrepeatedly advancing) down the pitch beforea delivery is bowled. There is both alaw <strong>and</strong> a line – literally – why draw a different,moral, one? The “Spirit”, to mymind, is on the batsman to observe the law.The “put” should not even be on thebowler to remind the batsman, though, inpractice, most if not all, wi l give the “caution”first. The breach of either the law orthe warning wi l always be by the batsman,so why castigate the fielding side. If we areto penalise “one short”, for example, oftenby the very finest of margins, why shouldwe allow a batsman a yard or more advantageat the start of a potential run? What isa stumping, in essence, bu the same thingat the other end? A balanced view, surely,should not conclude bowler “abuse” <strong>and</strong>Kartik, his captain <strong>and</strong> “Athers” have a lgot it spot on!Derek Rees, <strong>Wales</strong>, said:I am the Instructor <strong>and</strong> Chairman of theLlanelli Branch of ECB <strong>ACO</strong> <strong>and</strong> I have justread the above article <strong>and</strong> am, quite frankly,astounded that it suggests that the runningout of the non-striker who is trying to gainan unfair advantage is somehow unfair <strong>and</strong>against the “Spirit of the Game”Law 42.15 is quite specific. It permits thebowler to a temp to run ou the non-strikerbefore the bowler enters his delivery strudewhere the non-striker is a tempting to gainan advantage by starting to run early.If we, as umpires choose to ignore thisfac then I ask myself,where do wedraw the line. Dowe choose to ignorethe other penaltiesunder Law 42?I accep that, inthe “Spirit of theGame”, we as umpireswi l ask thecaptain if he wantsthe appeal to st<strong>and</strong>.This is traditional<strong>and</strong> it is normal for abowler to warn thenon-striker on thefirst occu rence.But, if the captainrefuses then that isit, the non-strikermust be given out<strong>and</strong> the game continues.To suggest thatthis action is unfaircannot be acceptableunder the Laws. It isquite clear that it isnot a “grey” are buta clearly laid downrequiremen tha thenon-striker shouldbe a tempting togain an unfair advantage.ECB <strong>ACO</strong> were pleasedto receive John Holder’s thoughts <strong>and</strong> printthem below. We fully endorse his views.Murali Kartik following his ‘mankading’ of Alex Barrow a theend of the county seasonJohn Holder wrote:It is pure nonsense to accuse a bowler for unsporting behaviour when he runs out anon-striker who has left his ground early, especially when that batsman has previouslybeen warned for this act. The sole reason for a non-striker leaving his ground early isto increase his chances of ge ting to the other end as quickly as possible, thereby gainingan unfair advantage.Before the law was changed, abowler could get into his delivery stride<strong>and</strong> instead of releasing the ba l, stop,wai ti l the non-striker has left hisground <strong>and</strong> break the wicket. That wastota ly unsporting <strong>and</strong> could be regardedas bringing the game into disrepute. Thepowers that be rightly changed the lawso tha the runout could only be a fectedwhile the bowler was running up to thewicket. Once the bowler had reachedhis delivery stride he could not run thenon-striker out.For a non-striker to leave his groundwhile the bowler is running up is blatantcheating, doubly so when he has beenwarned previously. Gareth Batty wasco rect in upholding the appeal in thematch against Somerset <strong>and</strong> for Su reyto be accused of unsporting behaviour ispure hypocrisy. Only when non-strikerswho transgress are given out wi l thisact of cheating stop.Perhaps the biggest block to an unbiasedself-assessment is the belief that the commentsof captains bear little relation to thefacts of the appropriate afternoon! Whichbrings to memory the words of Steve Davisduring the Elite Umpires Q&A at Lord’s acouple of years ago…‘people will alwaystell you that you were wrong. If you were,examine it, then forget it, <strong>and</strong> move on.’OK, so let us spend a few minutes onthat first. Part of the job is to rememberwhat we each did (<strong>and</strong> didn’t do) but thiscannot be isolated from watching others -<strong>and</strong> especially those officiating televisedmatches - <strong>and</strong> making comparisons. Afterall, most of us do fancy that we could beout there working with any of the Elites in,for example, the current T20 ChampionsLeague don’t we?Strangely though, one key point not to beoverlooked is that, basically, they haveheaps more authority but fewer tasks thanmost colleagues on league panels – so it isinteresting to compare some of these differencesas you run down the list <strong>and</strong> answerto yourself…Did you always arrive an hour in advanceof the scheduled start time?Did you ever warm-up with a runaround the boundary?Were you always there in the middleat the toss?Did you speak to the captains about‘Spirit of <strong>Cricket</strong>’ <strong>and</strong> their responsibilities?What did you leave behind in thedressing-room more than once?That is, apart from ‘my sanity’ <strong>and</strong> ‘gsoh’!Did you always call ‘Play’ <strong>and</strong> ‘Time’at each interval?How many times did you call a ‘percentage’no-ball?Did you give any ‘percentage’ lbwappeals?Why did you not cross over regularlyfor the left-right batting combination?How many times did you answer thebowler’s query after saying ‘Not-Out’?How many times did you not observethe completion of the first runat the bowler’s end?How many times did you look toyour colleague each over?After; every ball, 4 th ball, 5 th ball, never?At the fall of a wicket, did you alwaystalk with your colleague – checkthe score <strong>and</strong> number of balls to come?How do you ‘check’ the score if you do notkeep it?After an appeal to you, did you everwalk to your colleague to discuss it?Can you tell from your match-card,which over was bowled at eachhour?Did you regularly advise captains ifthey were on time or late?This applies in non-league too as teamsmust underst<strong>and</strong> that as they improve, somust their timings.How many ‘incidents’ did youchoose not to take further or report?Remember, this is not a public confessionbut just a personal hard-line judgement onyou to yourself; if you baulked at one thatyou shouldn’t have, now is the time to besure that you were right (<strong>and</strong> it did notmerit sanctions) or you were nervously hesitant– in which case, analyse the incidentagain, <strong>and</strong> re-judge your action – <strong>and</strong> learnfrom either decision.Overall, were you content with thecaptains you were dealing with?In your judgement for this season,was discipline worse or better?Did you enjoy your season?No matter on your answers to the otherquestions, this is the vital one. It is sometimesreported that umpires are giving upbecause they no longer enjoy being outthere amidst the arguments, noise, <strong>and</strong> lackof respect – or, if these do not occur, theever increasing possibility that they might.So those who continue need to be convincedthat they do indeed enjoy playingsuch a key role.than restrict itself to taking a reactive view toany incidents that occur. It is a real disappointmenttherefore that one of the initiativesin this area that directly concerns us - the aimto increase the number of ethnic minorities inthe membership of ECB <strong>ACO</strong> – has been farfrom successful.This is a sensitive area, but we have somegreat role models, in both the professional<strong>and</strong> recreational game (John Holder <strong>and</strong>Mansoor Qureshi to name but two) <strong>and</strong> theissue was raised <strong>and</strong> positively discussedwith colleagues from Pakistan <strong>and</strong> Sri Lankaduring the talks held with the ICC officials inthe summer. Nevertheless the truth is that ourfine words <strong>and</strong> aspirations have not beenmatched by any significant change in pragmaticterms so, along with a similar wish toraise the number <strong>and</strong> profile of our womenofficials, this will be a top priority in 2013<strong>and</strong> beyond. Your thoughts on any aspects ofthis issue would be much appreciated.One of my personal pet hates is the onsetof Christmas in November –but given thesignificant issue we are having with the post,despite this issue coming out a little earlierthis year, it will probably not reach you untilDecember – so as that is within the season ofgoodwill, I end by sending you all my verybest wishes for a Happy Christmas <strong>and</strong> asplendid 2013.continued from page 2e-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 8 contact us on 0121 446 2710Awards <strong>and</strong> RecognitionHonorary Life Memberships are awarded by the ECB <strong>ACO</strong> <strong>Board</strong> to those nominated from the MembershipServices Commi tee. The <strong>Board</strong> was delighted to approve the nominations of Keith Sutherl<strong>and</strong> (Durham) <strong>and</strong> DavidHeap (Lancashire) to join the existing list of Honorary Life Members.Below are the individual submissions that were approved by the <strong>Board</strong>. Congratulations to Keith <strong>and</strong> David.Bob McLeod – League Panels <strong>and</strong>AssociationsBob was one of thefounder members ofthe Su rey ChampionshipUmpiresPanel <strong>and</strong> is nowserving his 26th seasonon the Panel. Hehas always been regardedby players<strong>and</strong> clubs alike asone of the top recreational umpires in Su rey.From 2001 to 2008 he served as Chairmanof the Panel <strong>and</strong> was responsible for the creationof a transparent list system, a lowing thebest umpires to develop <strong>and</strong> rise through thesystem, <strong>and</strong> the author of the Blue Book – aninvaluable umpire’s guide to navigating theChampionship’s playing conditions. ThePanel now uses Bob’s considerable mentoringtalents with those umpires considered to havethe most promise to st<strong>and</strong> in the top levels ofclub cricket.He is also a Boundary Assessor, <strong>and</strong> inthese roles is able to inspire <strong>and</strong> develop umpiresof the panel. For many yearshe organised the panel of umpires to st<strong>and</strong>in Su rey CCC 2nd XI matches. Outside Surrey,he has been the Chairman of the Club<strong>Cricket</strong> Conference’s Umpires <strong>and</strong> ScorersCommi tee for some years <strong>and</strong> in that role heused his considerable organising ski ls to greate fect. You wi l not meet a nicer man. He hasbeen a model for promising o ficials in Su rey<strong>and</strong> beyond – both as an umpire <strong>and</strong> a man.Chris Fortune – Young O ficials AwardSince 2009, when the young o ficials pro-Keith Sutherl<strong>and</strong>Keith has fi led many positions for both the ACU&S <strong>and</strong> ECB <strong>ACO</strong> sincejoining the former in 1987 when he started his umpiring career. He was aMinor County <strong>and</strong> Second XI umpire before he had to retire because of backproblems in 2000 but this did not stop his work for the ACU&S <strong>and</strong> <strong>ACO</strong>which continues to this day.Keith was secretary of the ACU&S Durham Branch <strong>and</strong> also secretary ofthe Durham Association of Umpires <strong>and</strong> Scorers <strong>and</strong> at present he i secretaryof the Durham <strong>ACO</strong> – a position he has held since its formation.At a regional <strong>and</strong> nationa level he has held many posts. He was the firstrepresentative of the North Region on the <strong>ACO</strong> <strong>Board</strong> <strong>and</strong> at present he isNorth Regional Secretary.As we l as fi ling these various other posts, Keith has run courses inDurham for many years. There is no-one in our organisation more deserving of the honour of Honorary Life Membership than Keith.David HeapWhen you look at some men there is a saying, find a busy man <strong>and</strong> givehim some more. That is David – a workaholic. He never stops up in theNorth.David began playing junior cricket at Li tle Lever before moving on toplay senior cricket in 1965 at Kearsley CC in the Bolton League, where heremained until 1972, becoming a very good left arm bowler. After one yearat St Andrews (1973) in the Bolton Association, he returned to the BoltonLeague to play for Westhoughton CC until 1983.He then took up the ca l of the men in the white coat <strong>and</strong> began umpiringin 1984, becoming a fu l member of the ACU in 1989. He became an instructorin 2001 <strong>and</strong> has run many courses throughout the Bolton <strong>and</strong> Manchesterarea. He became the North West Training O ficer taking over from IanBishop in 2007, where he helped many instructors on their courses, assessing <strong>and</strong> o fering advice. He became the Education O ficer for theLCB <strong>ACO</strong> in 2009 <strong>and</strong> his expertise in that field has been invaluable to the LCB <strong>ACO</strong>, a tending many national meetings of Education O ficersas we l as training courses in tutoring, assessing <strong>and</strong> scoring, organising courses not only for umpiring at a levels, but helping thecounty Scoring O ficer with her courses too. He has been dedicated to the role <strong>and</strong> it is with regret he steps down this year but wi l continueto tutor courses loca ly.There is no-one more dedicated than him to the cause <strong>and</strong> it has been pleasure to have worked with him. A truly great person.Shepherd-Frindall Award WinnersThe winners of the Shepherd-Frinda l awards are determined by the ECB <strong>ACO</strong> <strong>Board</strong> fo lowing the review of the nominations ineach category. This year the nominations were particularly strong <strong>and</strong> the fo lowing four were chosen as the 2012 winners.Congratulations to the nominees <strong>and</strong> winners.Ed: It’s easy to congratulate the winners, but we would also like to thank those who nominated someone for this year’sShepherd-Frinda l awards. Maybe it’s you who should be nominated next year…e-mail us at ecbaco@ecb.co.uk 12 contact us on 0121 446 2710Laws – queriesDonald A lan, Sussex, wrote:I read with respect your we l balanced articleon “Mankading” in the <strong>ACO</strong> Newsle terno 14, discussing the bowle running outthe non-striker.Why does law 42.15 exist at a l? Itseems tha the law explicitly always comeswithin the compass of “any action whichseems to abuse the spirit”, <strong>and</strong> so it cannotever apply. Someone has gone to the botherof describing exactly the situation in theLaw apparently in contravention of “thespirit”.The laws are terse <strong>and</strong> we l considered,but I think the very existence of this law isthe cause of a l the controversy as umpiresare directed no to apply it. I happen tothink tha the batsman is “sneaking a run”<strong>and</strong> should be out. Otherwise why notapply a simila relief to the striker too? Butlet’s have an unambiguou situation - Scrapthe law <strong>and</strong> I’ l be happy.Wi l Law 42.15 be scrapped once <strong>and</strong>for a l? If not, why not?Ian Springer, Dorset, wrote:I found the article Beyond the Boundary inissue14 both interesting <strong>and</strong> a li tle annoying.I agree with a l the comments regardingthe Spirit of <strong>Cricket</strong>, but I cannotunderst<strong>and</strong> why this must only apply to thebowler. If the various commentators care totake a look beyond Law 42.15 to jus thenext point i.e. Law 42.16 “BATSMANSTEALING A RUN” which clearly statesthat “It is unfair for the batsman to a temptto steal a run during the bowlers run up”they might note that it is the actions of thebatsman that are unlawful <strong>and</strong> agains theSpirit of <strong>Cricket</strong>. It even says that if thebowler does not a temp to run out eitherbatsman then the umpire should take actiona soon as the batsmen cross in their attempto steal a run. It goes on to state thatthe fielding team be awarded 5 penalty runs<strong>and</strong> the incident reported. Surely it shouldbe argued that Kartik was being more thanfair to the batsman who obviously was notbeing fair. The Law say he is being unfair.If as the article states Kartik warned thebatsman of what he intended then surely theumpire should have been aware of the batsman’sunfair, <strong>and</strong> therefore unlawful, actions.This warning sounds entirely withinthe Spirit of Cricke though, as is often thecase, it is not required by the Laws. It couldbe argued tha the umpire was at fault here.I would sugges that a thi stage it wouldserve a l to point ou to the batsman that ifhe leaves his ground <strong>and</strong> does not keep atleast his bat grounded behind the poppingcrease then he wi l be seen to be trying tosteal a run <strong>and</strong> tha this is unfair <strong>and</strong> thereforeunlawful. It might further help to remindthe batsman what actions he, as theumpire, is required, by Law, to take if hesees further incidents.I admi that I am only a lowly Level 1umpire with only 5 years’ experiencewithin my sma l sphere of umpiring for thelocal Evening League <strong>and</strong> Dorset SundayLeague, but I have seen several cases ofthi sort of play by batsmen who know thatin tight running situations the ba l is mostlikely to be thrown to the wicketkeeper thusmaking them most at risk of being run out.Kartik, being an ex-Somerset player, wasprobably aware of the ba ting tactics of hisopponents <strong>and</strong> if these were within theSpirit of <strong>Cricket</strong> or the Laws of the game.Most see the Laws of <strong>Cricket</strong> giving thebenefi to the batsmen, maybe this is onearea that leans a li tle in the bowlers favour,<strong>and</strong> maybe they should be encouraged,rather than being admonished, in using it.And as a final comment, I should pointou that I am also a Somerset C.C.C. supporter,so wish my views to be seen as asupporter of the game of <strong>Cricket</strong> in generalrather than as a partisan.David Pie rie, Lancashire, wrote:Thank you for the interesting Beyond theBoundary article re the Mankading run-outissue (Issue 14) I though the article waswe l balanced, <strong>and</strong> it a lowed me to thinkabou the situation. The article showed howimportant it is to consider aspects of theLaws outside of a match environment,when emotion has ebbed away. I think whatis key, is tha the Laws are not fixed, butare a work in progress, with the Rule Bookshowing the lates thinking.In the Mankading scenario, I fu ly agreewith the article’s thinking that it’s importantto keep the Spirit of <strong>Cricket</strong> in mind. Iwould therefore sugges that we, as umpires,look a this issue <strong>and</strong> come up with adefinitive answer.If we look a the role of the non-striker,it has become custom <strong>and</strong> practice for him(or her) to back up a few paces as thebowle runs in. Do we as umpires, in factdoes anyone in the game - including thenon-striker - consider this action to be“stealing a run” or is it simply part of thegame? The Laws themselves leave it up tothe umpire to decide if this i so, even makingthe distinction of the striker being allowedto st<strong>and</strong> we l out of his ground toreceive the ba l, an action that is NOT consideredstealing a run! For a run to be completed,i takes BOTH batsmen to maketheir ground a the opposite ends, so the actionsof both batsman must be equated intothe Law.The ‘Mankading’incident involvingMurali Kartik dismissingSomerset’s AlexBarrow towards theend of the countyseason was raised inthe previous ‘Beyondthe Boundary’ (page11, Edition 14). Wehave receivednumerous responses<strong>and</strong> thoughts on thetopic. We’ve included aselection below. Makading – Sehwag talks to umpires fo lowing the mankading incident which marred their game withSri Lanka earlier this yearPAGE12-13: Laws queriesLooking back to the lastissue, the highlighted‘naughtiness’ of the bowlershredding the ‘Spirit of<strong>Cricket</strong>’ definition because ofattempting to run-out the nonstriker,generally met with a ‘Hold-on, youhave the wrong target’ response. Themajority view was indeed that the bowlerwas using the law to react properly to theattempted mis-deed of the non-striker.Similarly echoed was the view that either theLaw be reworded or removed, or the ‘SoC’text be adjusted so that it is clearlyunderstood to be in addition to the Laws <strong>and</strong>not a way of interpreting them.
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